Heart of a Lion
by SiriusMarauderFan
Summary: The friendship of two young Gryffindors. slightly au. one shot.


**Author's Note:** Written for…

AU Sorting Competition. _Prompt:_ Luna in Gryffindor

All You Need Is Love Competition. _Friendship:_ Ginny/Luna

**Heart of a Lion**

Luna always thought the train ride to a school of magic would be fun and interesting, but the only people she'd spoken to so far were the trolley witch and a boy with a prefect badge that had helped her lift her trunk. Everyone else took one look in her compartment and moved on.

The train had started to move before she spoke with anyone else. She was just finishing rereading the first chapter of her favorite book – _Balancing a Broom on Your Nose_ by H.M. Bristly – when a red-haired girl about her age wandered in.

"Excuse me, you haven't by any chance seen two boys around? One's got hair like mine, and a rat. And the other has black hair and glasses and, um … well. Have you seen them at all?"

"No, sorry."

"That's okay. They're probably just hiding from me." The girl glanced around the mostly-empty compartment and frowned. "Are you alone?"

Luna nodded, putting down her book. "Yes. This will be my first year … I don't have many friends." She hoped the girl didn't pick up on the lie – that she didn't have any friends at all.

The redhead smiled instantly and held out a hand. "I'm Ginny Weasley. Would you mind if I sat with you?"

"Luna Lovegood, and I would love some company."

Ginny sat next to her on the bench, which surprised Luna a bit. She did most of the talking for the whole train ride, explaining about her brothers and how none of them wanted her around even though this was only her first year and her mum had made them promise to look after her, and how she would get them back later once she learned some spells.

"What house do you think you'll be in?" Ginny asked after a while. "I think I'll be Gryffindor. Mum and Dad were, and all of my brothers. Might get disowned if I don't," she said with a laugh.

Luna shrugged. "My mum was a Gryffindor as well, but my dad was a Ravenclaw. He says he'll be proud of me either way, but I don't know where I belong."

"I hope we'll be together. Percy told me Gryffindors and Ravenclaws don't have any classes together. If we were in the same house we'd be able together all the time! Classes, meals … we'd probably be in the same dormitory, too."

"That does sound nice," Luna conceded, instantly wishing she could choose her own house.

:-:

The girls tried not to worry about the sorting for the rest of the trip, forgetting it entirely until they were being ushered into an antechamber and made to wait for the sorting to begin.

Luna tried not to let her anxiety show as she marched into the Great Hall. She snuck peeks at all the tables, wondering what it would be like to sit at each one. She saw a mess of red hair at the Gryffindor table, and Ginny smiled at the hooting and hollering of two boys in that direction.

She had to wait a long time for her name to be called, and felt sorry for having to leave Ginny. No doubt the poor girl would probably be the last called.

It was less nerve wracking to be on the stool with the hat on her head and everyone staring at her than it was to watch everyone else be sorted.

"What an interesting mind," the hat began, startling the girl. "You would fit so well in Ravenclaw."

"I want to be with Ginny," Luna thought desperately, smiling down at the redhead. "I want to have friends. I … I want to be a Gryffindor."

The hat hummed as it poked through her mind. "Yes. Yes, you _would_ suit Gryffindor. Very well."

The room erupted in applause, but the only person whose clapping mattered to Luna wasn't yet sorted. She skipped over to the Gryffindor table and introduced herself to her housemates as the sorting continued, quickly quieting as the final student made her way to the hat.

Ginny's sorting was by far the fastest that year, and she practically tackled Luna when she joined her at the table.

"We're going to have so much fun!" she whispered just as the Headmaster stood to make an announcement.

:-:

Their first year wasn't nearly as much fun as either girl anticipated.

Half of the year, Ginny was a lovesick schoolgirl and the other half she locked herself away. Most days Luna would find her huddled in the corner of their dorm, scribbling away in a journal. Still, Luna liked her friend's eccentricities and accepted them as much as Ginny had accepted hers in becoming her friend.

When the announcement was made that Ginny had been taken into the Chamber, Luna stayed all night in the common room. She wanted to help in some way, but she had no idea how. When Ron and Harry came and announced that Ginny was in the infirmary, Luna snuck down and waited until Ginny's brothers had come and gone from her bedside to go in and visit her.

"I'm glad you're okay," she whispered, and she curled up on a chair and clutched Ginny's hand as they fell asleep.

:-:

"Give them back."

"We were just having fun!"

"I don't care, give them back."

Luna frowned, waking slowly. The sound of Ginny yelling wasn't foreign to her, but it was unusual to hear it in the safety of their own tower.

Slowly, she padded downstairs as the argument continued. She found Ginny standing against two fourth years that Luna didn't know very well. One of them was holding a pair of bright yellow runners that she recognized as her own. She remembered leaving them by the common room fire to dry from the previous night's rainstorm.

"What's going on?" she asked, coming to stand beside the other first-year. "Why do you have my shoes?"

The boy with the shoes snickered. "Just having some fun."

"I said, give them back," Ginny repeated, her eyes never leaving the shoes.

"Oh, lighten up, Weasley. Lovegood doesn't mind, do you Loony?"

"That's not her name," the redhead growled, stepping forward. Luna put a hand on her friend's shoulder, attempting to calm her down. It'd been weeks since the incident in the Chamber, but she was still worried about Ginny's health.

"It's okay, Ginny. They can have them."

"It's not fair, they're _your_ shoes."

"Forget about them, come on." Luna grabbed her hand and tried to pull her back up to their dorm.

"What's going on down here?" The girls turned to find Percy stomping down from the boys' dorms. "Why aren't you all at breakfast? The train leaves in an hour and a half."

"These idiots stole Luna's shoes," Ginny told him.

Percy looked to the fourth years, who were trying to hide the shoes.

"Is this true? Duggen, Hill?"

"We were just having some fun," one of the boys said dejectedly, handing the shoes over to the prefect, who inspected them before giving them back to their owner.

"She doesn't even care, look at her! She's lost in her own world," the other argued.

Luna squeezed Ginny's arm as the young redhead prepared to hex the older boys.

"I understand enough," she told the bullies. "But the next time you want to have some fun, please use your own shoes."

She thanked Percy for his help and quickly pulled Ginny back up to their dorm as the prefect began his lecture to the trouble-makers.

"There's nothing he can do about them," Ginny muttered, listening to her brother's rant from the doorway. "We're going home in a few hours. It's not like they're going to get detention."

"I'm sure it'll all work out," Luna said calmly, dressing quickly and neatly packing any last-minute items.

Ginny watched her, frowning. "How can you be so nonchalant about this? You do understand they were making fun of you out there, right?"

Luna stopped and sighed. "I'm afraid I don't really fit in around here. But I am grateful for you sticking up for me."

Ginny crossed the room and took the blonde's hands. "That's what friends do, Luna. And you're my best friend."

Luna blushed, looking down at their entwined hands. "Good. I like having friends."


End file.
